13,788 KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC

Key Points

• GRIMES & Co Wealth Management reduced its KLA stake by 21.7% in the third quarter, selling 13,788 shares and retaining 49,825 shares valued at approximately $9.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• KLA insiders have also been selling shares: executives sold 237,479 shares worth about $45.8 million over the past 90 days, including substantial sales by the CEO and chief accounting officer.
• KLA reported quarterly results above expectations, with $1.22 in EPS and $4.14 billion in revenue, representing 28.9% year-over-year revenue growth. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $220.35, while the stock recently opened at $153.11.

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,825 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 13,788 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $9,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 1,783 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,625,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in KLA by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,379 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,664,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,656 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total transaction of $12,378,625.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 237,479 shares of company stock valued at $45,780,736. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $225.00 price objective on KLA in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler set a $425.00 price target on KLA in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded KLA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.35.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $153.11 on Tuesday. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $107.20 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $178.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.82.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 91.73%. KLA's revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation NASDAQ: KLAC develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company's product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.

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